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What our students say

The Extended Diploma gives me loads of creative freedom in my practical work and the underpinning theory I need to gain the qualification will help me get into university. Without the added pressure of exams, the course is perfect for me. Learning and hanging out with people who are into the same things as me has made me more confident and I’ve made loads of friends.

The most important thing for me when learning a trade is that you can trust, respect and get on with those teaching you – which is exactly the relationship I have with my tutors. They all have professional experience so as well as teaching you techniques and skills, they give you advice on how to get work in the industry. As well as being local to where I live, I’d come to the college during year 11 at school so I was familiar with the friendly campus.

My brother did the course last year and really enjoyed so I thought it was a great way to further my interest in cars. I like the link between learning the theory about cars in the classroom and seeing it in practice in the workshop – it brings everything together so I’ll have the knowledge and skills that will get me a job in the future.

I love doing the practical work as I’m getting hands-on experience that I’ll use when I get a job. We also do classroom-based learning but everything’s taught in a construction context – so numeracy relates to measurements and in literacy we learn using language used in industry. My advice to anyone making a decision about their next step would be to get skills and qualifications as they’ll open doors to jobs in the future – which is exactly what I’m doing at Coleg Gwent.